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Chapter 303: Walking Bombs
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Synopsis Captain Torch's ship drops a bomb. Although it misses Flash's party it triggers a massive avalanche. From their rocket ship, Zarkov, Ronal and Turan watch in horror as tons of snow and debris engulf their friends, and they believe their can be no hope of survival for them. But by a miracle Flash and his companions have survived, having fallen into a narrow chasm that was in the path of the avalanche. The chasm protected them to a large degree and Flash, Dale and Roka are relatively unscathed, but Prince Barin is in a bad way and they are completely trapped. Torch's ship spots Zarkov's and engages it in combat, but the Earthman proves to be the superior pilot. When their weapons and radios are knocked out, Torch has his ship flee back to Ming's palace. Zarkov flies over the scene of the avalanche and spots the chasm. He theorizes that there is a slim chance the expedition party survived after all. Radio contact is then successfully established with Flash, who explains the situation to them. At once Zarkov sets about organizing a rescue mission, a race against time as the 4 will not be able to survive for long in the extreme cold, even with their protective clothes. The rescue party, equipped with magnesium torches, penetrate deep into the chasm and search long into the night. Finally Flash and his friends are located and brought to safety. Back on the rocket ship a short time later, Flash wants to instantly get back to mining the Polarite before the Ming ship returns to finish them off. Dr Zarkov says that particular problem can be faced in due course. In the meantime he is worried that Flash and the others may be suffering from the effects of exposure and orders them to rest for a few hours under his observation. Captain Torch and Lieutenant Thong return to Ming, with Thong fearful as to what the Emperor's response will be when he learns that Flash Gordon was killed rather than captured alive as per their orders. Even as they report to Ming, word arrives that the radio operator in the palace has intercepted a communication from Dr Zarkov to persons unknown confirming that all of his party are safe and well and will start mining the Polarite at once. Although displeased with their performance, Ming gives Torch and Thong a chance to redeem themselves. His new "Annihilatons", or mechanical men, have just proven successful in tests. Torch and Thong are to take the Annihilatons, walking bombs which can be operated by remote control, to Frigia and use them to wipe out the Polarite expedition, and to capture Flash Gordon and Dr Zarkov alive. Zarkov's team have already extracted a sizeable quantity of Polarite. Torch, from the safety of his ship, turns the robots on the party. The robots prove impervious to ray gun blasts and when physically attacked by some of the miners, one of them is remotely detonated, killing everybody near it. Flash and his friends flee, trying to climb upwards where the Annihilatons may be unable to follow them, but Dale and one of the miners slip and fall. With the robots almost upon their unconscious forms, Flash has no choice but to try and fight the robots back. On the ship, Torch is worried that he is losing his advantage and says he will have to kill Flash. Thong argues that they dare not defy Ming's orders, but Torch says they have little choice and activates the detonation control. The robot Flash is grappling with explodes. Recap card EMPEROR MING, rejoicing in the belief that Flash and his party have been destroyed, intercepts a radio message from Flash to his father saying he has discovered Polarite, an antidote for the "Death Dust" with which Ming is bombarding the Earth. MING, enraged and knowing his soldiers cannot survive the intense cold of Frigia, sends Torch against the expedition with an army of mechanical men charged with explosives, which Torch can control and explode from his ship. DEEP in the frozen wastes, the "Walking Bombs" attack the expedition and.... Trivia *Some prints of this serial have a voiceover reading out the recaps at the start of each chapter. During the recap at the start of this chapter, the voice pronounces "Frigia" incorrectly. Quotes *"That avalanche took care of the activities of Flash Gordon and his party." Gallery FGCTU_03001.jpg|Flash and friends trapped after the avalanche FGCTU_03002.jpg|Searching the chasm for survivors FGCTU_03003.jpg|Zarkov leads the rescue team FGCTU_03004.jpg|Thong and Torch report back to Ming FGCTU_Annihilatons.jpg|The Annihilatons, ready for action! Category:Serials Chapters